i'm jim cramer and i'll see you tomorrow. this morning on "early today," murder in benghazi. president obama vows justice will be done after the horrific killing of the u.s. ambassador to libya. money out the window. bank robbery suspects hurl cash during a high-speed police chase. and baby buzz? what england's duchess kate has been turning down that's sparking pregnancy rumors. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm mara schiavocampo. today, we begin with firing back. in response to deadly attacks in libya that killed a u.s. ambassador and three diplomats, an elite group of marines has been sent to ramp up security at u.s. facilities in libya's capital.

meanwhile, the violence has spread to yemen's capital this morning, where protesters have attacked the u.s. embassies. nbc's tracie potts has more from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: hi, mara, good morning. good morning, everyone. here on capitol hill, the senate is condemning what happened in benghazi, calling it unacceptable and unjustifiable. meantime, as you mentioned, mara, there are more protests in other countries going on today. new this morning, take a look at this, protesters storming the u.s. embassy in yemen, a third country angered by an online video the u.s. has condemned. reports say they breached the wall and were pushed back, but not before burning the u.s. flag there. back home, reaction to the deaths in benghazi, libya. a nation in mourning today as the bodies of four americans, including ambassador chris stevens, arrive home. flags are at half-staff in d.c. overnight, a vigil for the victims across the street from

the white house, where president obama condemned the attack. >> there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence, none. >> reporter: now two navy warships are being positioned off libya's coast, awaiting orders. mr. obama told libya's president last night they must help keep americans there safe. this morning in cairo, the site of a second attack, tear gas was fired on protesters. president obama tells our sister network, telemundo, the u.s. is waiting to see how egypt responds. >> i don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy. they are a new government that is trying to find its way. >> reporter: protesters are angry over a video they say insults the prophet muhammad. our embassy in cairo called the video misguided. mitt romney and paul ryan criticized that response. >> instead, when our grounds are being attacked and being breached, that the first response of the united states must be outrage. >> the administration sent mixed

signals to those who attack our embassy in egypt and mixed signals to the world. >> reporter: now the world waits to see who will be held responsible for the death of a diplomat. and back to the politics of it all. you know, even some republicans are criticizing mitt romney for jumping into this so quickly while events were still unfolding. and mara, as of this morning, are still unfolding in the middle east. >> all right, tracie potts. thank you very much. new census bureau figures on income, wealth, and poverty for 2011 paint a bleak economic picture. median household income dropped 1.5% last year to just over $50,000 a year. that's over 8% lower than in late 2007 when the recession began. in contrast, income for the wealthiest 20% of americans went up 1.6% last year. 2011's income gap between the rich and the poor grew to the widest in more than 40 years. and while a proportion of americans living in poverty did not rise for the first time in four years, the 46 million

people in poverty remained at the highest level in the 53 years since the census bureau began keeping that statistic. well, it's here, apple's new-and-improved iphone has arrived. the thinner, lighter and taller 5 will be in stores on the 21st, and it comes with a laundry list of new high-tech additions. nbc's jay gray got a look. >> reporter: the skies did not open up. by all reports, the earth is still on its axis, but the tech universe definitely has a new shining star today. >> today we're going to introduce iphone 5. >> reporter: with that, all the rumors shifted to reality. when the 5, made entirely of aluminum and glass, made its debut in san francisco. >> it is the most beautiful product we have ever made. >> reporter: and, apple says, the most powerful, advanced smartphone ever created. >> it is really easy to make a new product that's bigger. everyone does that. that's not the challenge. the challenge is to make it better and smaller. >> reporter: engineers say the 5

will run on higher speed lte networks and equipped with apple's newest a6 processor, the company says it will operate at double the speed of the 4 and 4s. it has a longer lasting battery, three microphones and a better 8-megapixel camera. >> but it matches our expectations, because we really did see a lot of this stuff sort of leak out beforehand, and it's really an impressive product. >> reporter: apple hoping the upgrades will change the current picture in the ultra competitive smartphone market. google's android is now the most used mobile operating system in the world and samsung has grabbed the lead in sales. >> i think last year the iphone 4s kind of saw the iphone falling a little bit behind the competition. i think this year they've really caught up. i'm not going to say they've surpassed the competition. >> reporter: something apple hopes to change on friday when the company will begin to take preorders for the 5. jay gray, nbc news, san francisco. and now here's a look at some other stories making news early today in america. in los angeles, it was take the

money and run and then throw it out of the window. a pair of suspected bank robbers tossed out wads of stolen cash while being chased by police. when the thieves were finally captured, one woman dove into the truck's driver seat to get a piece of all of that currency. police responded quickly and they surrounded the truck to stop a mob scene. in new york city, it's the hairdo 15 years in the making. you're looking at the guinness world record-holder for the tallest mohawk, a towering 3'8.6" high. it sits, or i should say stands, atop the fashion designer in japan who says it takes two hours, plus three cans of hairspray and one can of gel to have a good hair day. and finally, in california, we have an update at the baby panda at the san diego zoo. after six weeks, he's starting to open his little eyes, but it will take the guy about three more weeks to open them fully. in the meantime, the zoo is taking suggestions on what to name him. how about adorable? and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's meteorologist todd santos with the weather channel

forecast. good morning to you, todd. >> good morning. what a cutie there. for most of us, looking for a decent scenario across a good stretch of the west coast and some of the showers finally shifting eastward, so a lot of arizona today out of play for the activity. maybe along the new mexico border, maybe a few showers. you can see a a lot of that streaking to the east, the high plains. so travel weather, chicago, dallas may also be dealing with the thunderstorms. kansas city in the short term, and at least back toward st. louis we'll see the better chances late this afternoon. so, we'll track that front moving eastward. high pressure here in the northwest. the only real thing it's doing, aside from the dry conditions, is it is kind of increasing the fire danger, especially across at least a few areas in the washington cascades. aside from that, a lot of clear skies this morning, some low clouds, especially closer toward the california coastlines and the central coast. notice the showers the next 48 hours really well out to the east. that's at least one of the things to keep in mind. we're looking for a pretty decent day today and there's a look at the red flag warnings in through this evening, at leastp

pressing 103, fresno 99. so, looks like an absolutely beautiful thursday across the area. we'll check in on friday coming up. >> look at all that sunshine in california. they have all the luck. waiting on the fed. why omany people are saying no to bank accounts. and the end of blissful ignorance at mcdonald's. your early-morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll tell you who "people" magazine named the best dressed woman in the world. coming up, a coaching legend calls it quits, and move over, tebow, there's a new person in town. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "early today." i'm mara schiavocampo and here are some of your top headlines

this morning. florida found only 207 noncitizens registered to vote and the state is rolling back its so-called voter purge in an agreement with civil rights organizations. republican governor rick scott had claimed there were 2,600 ineligible voters. at new york's kennedy airport, a ring of 18 airport truck drivers and security guards were arrested, accused of helping to steal more than 100,000 mini liquor bottles worth over $750,000 from arriving american airlines flights. the ring also stands accused of stealing other duty-free merchandise. new pregnancy rumors are buzzing around england's duchess of cambridge, kate middleton, while she and prince william visit asia. why? well, for a toast to queen elizabeth, the duchess turned down wine in favor of water. and g.i. joe is the top toy of the last century. votes cast at the children's museum of indianapolis this summer rated transformers second, lego building blocks was in third place and barbie, she came in fourth.

and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow closed at 13,333 after adding 9 points yesterday. the s&p was up 3 and the nasdaq gained 9. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei nudged up 35 points, but in hong kong, the hang seng lost 27. stocks ended wednesday pretty much where they began as caution set in ahead of the fed's big announcement this afternoon. markets ticked higher early in the day after germany's high court approved the new eurozone rescue fund, clearing the way for europe's central bank to prop up spain and italy's cash-strapped economies. those early gains quickly faded though, as investors quickly shifted their attention to the fed. many investors are banking on fed chief ben bernanke to announce a fresh round of stimulus when the central bank wraps up its policy meeting this afternoon. apple got a 1% boost out of the launch of its faster, sleeker iphone 5. chesapeake energy is buying itself some breathing room from its $14 billion debt load with

the sale of nearly $7 billion in assets. the parent company of airbus and england's bae systems, europe's two largest aerospace and defense companies, they're in merger talks. according to the federal deposit insurance corporation, the number of u.s. families without bank accounts grew by 821,000 between 2009 and 2011. that means nearly 10 million americans, or a little more than 8% of the nation's population, don't have a checking or banking account, mostly because they don't have enough money to open and fund one. finally, say so long to guilt-free eating at mcdonald's. the fast food chain will list calorie information on menus in more than 14,000 restaurants and drive-throughs beginning next week. well, the phils fear the marlins, the o's walk off, and redskins fans now have a pose of their own. plus, twin blasts by one bomber helps the yanks keep pace. your early morning sports headlines are straight ahead. and we're looking at perfect day fall weather for a good

stretch of the country today, but will that last into friday? we'll check on that forecast coming up. you're watching "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, after 26 years and three college basketball titles with the uconn huskies, head coach jim calhoun is

calling it quits. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. we'll get to baseball in a second, but we start with news out of connecticut. legendary college basketball coach jim calhoun will announce his retirement today. uconn's head coach since 1986, calhoun won three national titles with the huskies. the 70-year-old hall of famer has had a rash of health issues over the last decade. he leaves the game with over 800 wins, sixth on the all-time list. assistant kevin ollie will take over at uconn. baseball, the race for the a.l. east looks like it's going to go down to the wire. rays and orioles tied at 2 in the ninth. one aboard for nate mclouth. if it's fair, it's a game winner walk-off rbi single. the orioles are red hot. they won it 3-2. so, could the yankees keep pace? oh, yes. no problem there. curtis granderson, a pair of home runs against the red sox. it's the 13th time he's done that. the sox scored late, but not enough. yanks win it 5-4. they remain tied with baltimore for first. tigers inched closer to the top spot in the central. prince fielder got clearance for

take off in the seventh. detroit beat chicago 8-6. they're a game back. and don't look now, but the phillies are back in the playoff race. left for dead, the phils were major sellers at the trade deadline. now they're just three games out of the wild card spot. jimmy rollins with a go ahead homer. they beat the marlins 3-1. rangers have been in the hunt since opening day increased their lead in the a.l. west with a victory over the indians. adrian beltre making a late push for mvp. his 32nd homer. rangers won it 5-2. finally, forget tebowing. that's a thing of the past. there's a new pose sweeping the nation. it's called griffining. born on sunday when robert griffin iii was seen celebrating his first touchdown pass from the seat of his pants. now everybody is striking a pose. at the office, on the sidewalk, in a field, even in front of the white house. everyone is griffining. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >> who knew. yet another, even sillier jessica simpson controversy.

and a strong, new entry for strange celebrity baby names. your early-morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, when it comes to loyalty to the arkansas razorbacks, this woman has proven she's all hog. you're watching "early today."

welcome back into "early today." at least a few cool spots this morning. blues on the map is temperatures in the 40s and even 30s.

57 in medford right now. we'll look for much nicer conditions, especially by this afternoon. check out medford, 99 this afternoon with full sunshine. beautiful up toward the cascades. keep in mind the high fire danger today. you always want to be careful, any day you can start fires, but the red flag warnings are in place. there's a look into tomorrow, where at that point, we push all the showers east of the rockies. even denver beautiful with 77 degrees, physical sunshine. if you're watching on action news 8 in california, monterey bay photos deep sea mammals and map underwater at the mission to the deep at the monterey aquarium. cool stuff. that's your "pacific event daytime." >> that does sound cool. i'm a big fan of aaquariums. well, now here's an early look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. get ready to argue who's the world's best dressed woman. according to "people" magazine, it's actress gwyneth paltrow. what about fashion icon kate middleton, you might ask? well, the duchess of cambridge was named the woman with the best classic style. actress emma stone was named for

best red carpet style, while singer rihanna was praised for taking the most fashion risk. elsewhere, tmz reports california cops spotted michael madsen driving erratically in a gto with red flames yesterday. he failed a breathalyzer at over twice the legal limit and was charged with dui. 31-year-old supermodel adriana lima gave birth to her second daughter yesterday, sienna. and speaking of babies, levi johnson is a dad again. he and girlfriend sunny oglesby, have a baby girl, and they named her breeze beretta johnston, after the gun, of course. finally, controversy over jessica simpson's weight, that's one thing, but this is a little ridiculous. simpson is now under fire for showing a photo of her newborn, maxwell, in a string bikini. all right. and this comes from kkrk 4 news in little rock, where in nearby nashville, arkansas, a college football superfan has become a viral sensation. ♪ there's nowhere in the world

that i would rather be ♪ ♪ than yelling >> look at this web cam performance in support of the arkansas razorbacks has been seen by more than 300,000 viewers in just the last five days. the swinger swears she doesn't drink and is "not a hick." those are her words, not mine. >> all right. >> she says she doesn't drink, but might be doing something else. >> she might be, although now i think she's a true superstar. once you make "early today." >> that's the benchmark for success. >> it is. >> i'm mara schiavocampo and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station.

well, he's famous for offering his kingdom for a horse. now richard iii's remains may have been found in an english parking lot. archaeologists in leicester discovered a skeleton with wounds consistent with those richard might have suffered in 1485 when he was killed in battle. an ancient friary where richard's body was taken may have once stood on that site. upcoming dna tests will tell us for sure. well, there was a whole lot of shaking going on when the worlds best mixologists met in new zealand. bartenders in the cocktail world cup are judged not only by their drink's taste, but their highly choreographed presentation as well. this year's theme was lab experiments, and the u.s. team won with its incredible hulk science gone wrong act. team u.s.a. included the first ever female winner. at one boutique in france, per yeesion women are shopping

for mr. right. a french dating website has opened a store where men dressed in quirky costumes posed in mock toy boxes. called adopt a guy, women can contact the men in the shop windows through the website or meet in a seating and drink area on the shop store. the men, they choose their own costumes, and they pose for passers by. okay. i just have one question about that. if you choose the wrong guy, can you return him to the store? >> i'm -- i mean, that's a questionable way to find -- i mean, isn't it easier to go online? go to a bar? >> maybe people -- >> that's lame. >> the idea of seeing them dressed up in quirky outfits perhaps. who knows. >> you have to be extremely in need at that point. >> don't judge. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. >> a national memorial service will be held to honor the life and career of neil armstrong at washington's national cathedral. armstrong, the first man on the moon, died last month at the age of 82. new york city's 11-member board of health is expected to

prove approve a controversial citywide ban on the sale of oversized sugary drinks. new york's mayor michael bloomberg proposed the legislation which would prohibit restaurants and other venues from selling sweet drinks in cups or containers larger than 16 ounces. and a big happy birthday to former nba player yao ming. he turns 32 today. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. in a "today" exclusive justin bieber opens up to ryan seacrest about growing up in the spotlight. and sarah ferguson will be live in the studio to talk about the royal family and her new children's book, "ballerina rosie." and now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and more. i'm mara schiavocampo. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com